Facebook Gives the Boot to Hezbollah for Hate Speech

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Hezbollah flag in Syria. Photo: wiki commons.

Facebook pages belonging to Hezbollah and the group’s television network Al-Manar, have been taken down by the social media company, according to a report from Israel Radio.

Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon, is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and Israel, however the European Union has notably refused to take similar actions.

According to the Israel Radio report, Facebook’s decision to take down the social media pages belonging to Hezbollah and Al-Manar, are due to the group’s records on inciting terrorist activity and their dissemination of hateful messages.

Last month, Apple and Google took steps to bar Hezbollah from their application stores on the web, including streaming videos of Al-Manar which were being made available through the technology companies’ platforms. Al-Manar was placed on the Department of State’s Foreign Terrorist Organization’s List in 2004 for being a propaganda arm of Hezbollah.

“Al-Manar is a source for anti-American and anti-Israel propaganda and messages of hate and violence,” Anti-Defamation League National Director Abraham Foxman said after the companies’ decisions. ” We commend Apple for removing the app from the iTunes store and appreciate their vigilance in ensuring that terrorist-affiliated organizations will not have access to Apple’s customers.”

Twitter has been asked to take similar actions in banning Hezbollah’s hate speech, however the social media company says it does not want to suppress speech in any way.